Mykola Dyletsky. «I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea»
The penitential concert «I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea» is based on a fragment from a prayer by the King Manasseh of Judah, read during the Great Vespers. The wording of the text originates from the 1581 Bible of Ostroh. Penitential concerts are representative of the Ukrainian Baroque music. In this piece, Dyletsky uses melodic idioms inherent in many penitential concerts, along with purely individual thematic features. The latter are exemplified by the initial exclamatory phrase «I have sinned» – with a delay, producing a dissonance. It becomes a refrain that binds the whole composition together. Dyletsky quotes a fragment of this piece («I am bowed down with many iron bands») in the treatise «Musical Grammar», illustrating the notion of a fuga, i.e., «scurry» of small durations’ notes. As we see, his idea of a fuga differs from the present one, since it does not necessarily presume imitational presentation of the musical material.
English translation
I have sinned
above the number
of the sands of the sea,
my transgressions
are multiplied,
and I am not worthy
to behold and see
the height of heaven
for the multitude
of mine iniquities.
I am bowed down
with many
iron bands,
that I cannot lift up mine head:
for I have provoked
thy wrath,
and done evil
before thee.
I have sinned
and done evil before thee.
Original text
Согрѣших
паче числа
песка морскаго
и умножишася
беззакония моя
и нѣсмь достоин
воззрѣти и видѣти
высоту небесную,
от множества
неправд моих.
Связан есмь
юзами многими,
юзами желѣзными
и нѣсть ми восклонения:
зане прогнѣвах
ярость Твою
и лукавое
пред Тобою сотворих.
Согрѣших
и лукавое пред Тобою сотворих.
Track list
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